Friday, 28 September 2012

Unloading the Burdens of the Past

There is no greater burden than a tool that is no longer useful. Yet most of us carry obsolete tools that served us in the past, all through our lives. They weigh us down.

Every time we reach for a heavy, worn-out tool that worked long ago we rule out one that would work. We limit our chances for success today. It's kind of like trying to use smoke signals to get on the internet. You drag the wood in. You light the fire. You send the puffs up, just the way you learned, but nothing comes back and nobody clicks "like".

What keeps us reaching for something that hasn't worked for ages?

·It's familiar. We know where to find it and what to do with it.

·It worked before.

·It keeps us from having to face the unknown.

Unfortunately, many of the tools and strategies that saved us as children only hurt us as adults. Just like the proverbial trash, one person's burdensome tool can be someone else's

treasured key to success.

Here are some examples of old tools and new possibilities

Defending your fears.

Explore them; perhaps they do not protect you from danger.

Gettingangry when you do not like what happens.

Focus on what you want instead. Ask for it. Reach for it.

Pleasing people you do not really enjoy being with.

Wish them well and release them to find someone who welcomes their company.

Holding a grudge.

If you can see that we are all doing the best we can with what we believe, it's easier to move on.

Feeling ashamed of failure.

Wear it as a bright badge of courage and learn from the research lab of life.

Doing everything yourself.

Ask for help when it enhances your project or your experience.

Always asking for help.

See if you can figure some of this out yourself; you'll be so proud!

Enduring pain you still feel from the past.

Ask what the experience means to you and uncover the beliefs you adopted that may not be true, even though you have lived by them as if they are real. Freedom from the pain of the past is possible!

Lighten up! When you unload burdens from your past, you open doors you may not know you closed. You can see opportunities and adventures where before there was only the gray fog of frustration, resignation or even despair.

Miracles can come in, if you let them.

What are some old beat-up, battered, heavy tools you carry around? Can you think of a replacement? Remember, any new tool may take some practice to master.

For more ways to breakout from the past, you can read my book, "Travelling Free: How to Recover from the Past by Changing Your Beliefs" now available in print, for